Parthian and Sassanid Combined Force

Having played out the Broken Rays of the Sun Test Campaign, I have given everyone glimpses of the figures used in the campaign but never all at once.  To rectify that, here is the gallery of all of the horde that are currently finished (painted, bases, flocked and sealed).  This army started as a Sassanid Persian and it was the first army I purposefully built for FOG.  Played well over 100 tournament games with it finishing 2nd in period at the International Team Tournament in 2009 at Lisbon.  Over the years I have added other pieces so that it can be fielded as a Parthian host as well.  I will add captions to let you know where I got the figures and who painted them.

The entire completed host on a 3' x 2' gaming mat.

Two shots of the Parthian leader stands.  All of these are OG15 figures that I painted.  I believe all of these came for PA01 Parthian command.

Parthian Cataphracts based 4 per stand.  All OG15s from and painted by your truly.  The flags I made myself.  These are a combination of figures from PA03, SA02, PL03 and ES03.

Another angle of the two BGs of Parthian cataphracts from the picture above as well as the dreaded Camelphracts in the right foreground.  The Camelphracts are Peter Pig Ancients Pack 72.  They also work as part of a Hatran ally for the Parthian and Early Sassanid list. I painted all of these figures.

The last two BGs of cataphracts in the army.  These are the first two cataphracts that I painted when I was running the army as Sassanid.  The flags are ones I made myself and, yes, they are oversized as I wanted an in your face look for them.  These are from ES03 from OG15s.

These three shots are mostly of the Parthian Horse Archers in the army although the Camelphracts and one of the Parthian Cataphracts made it into the foreground of the last picture.  The basing color of the two Cavalry Horse Archers are different than the light horse as I had to paint up more horse archers when V3 came out as 8 stands are now required.  These are all OG15s that I painted and are from pack LA10.  These are actually from the Later Achaemenid range but I liked the way these looked and stayed with them.  Not to mention I seem to have acquired about a hundred of the buggers.

Some of the Parthian support troops.  In the foreground are Greek City Militia mounted as medium foot.  The are OG15s.  I bought these as Greek Mercenary Thureophoroi from pack IGBG118 but they are in fact the Javelinmen from Thracian pack TH03. I think they look great.  I painted them myself.  In the background are two BGs of archers that will be described in the next picture.

Here we have two BGs of Hatran foot archers.  In V1 and V2, a Hatran ally was allowed for the Parthians that could have these.  I added the Hatran list to The Broken Rays of the Sun Campaign so I had to have these.  These are mostly the archers from FIB WE-PA09 Arab Skirmishers and the Arabs from OG15 SS20 Elymnaian Archers and Arab Archers.  There maybe a few other random figures in the mix as well.  I painted half of these and Thomas Demers of Mad Monkey Painting painted the rest.

These are Hatran Horse Archer cavalry from the Hatran ally.  I have 4 stands of Hatran light horse archers (FIB WE-PA08) and a mounted command stand (OG Parthians) waiting to be finished that will round out this ally command.  I painted these and they are all OG15s.  The riders are from pack SS21 Arab Camelry Riders and the horses are a mixture of OG15 horses I had laying around.

These two pictures are part of a Mountain Indian Ally command I have been working on as I could find suitable figures.  I wanted a more Afghani look for these so for the light horse I went with the OG MC08 Hippakantistai.  The command stand has one of the Hippakantistai and a left over figure from the LA02 pack that I had already replaced the javelin on.  I have several BGs of the Mountain Indian foot and some archers in the works but have yet to finish them.

Here we have a Saka ally for the Parthians.  Again, all often mounted are OG15s from the Skythian range. The Noble cavalry have all had their cast javelins replaced with lances.  The two wagons in the top right of the picture are two steppe wagons from FIB WE-SK06 Skythian 2-Horse Wagons.  There was a third but I broke it.  I have been working on a third camp base but it is no where near complete.  These work as FOG 300 camps or (if I have to play it) ADLG camps.  The two bases next to the wagons with camels are other FOG 300 camp bases for the Parthians.  They are mainly from Xyston pack ANC20282 Parthian Baggage Camels with a couple of figures from Xyston ANC20056 Persian Leavies in Persian Dress thrown in.  

These two pictures show the three bases of Sassanid leaders I have for the later morph of these troops.  These are all OG15s from ES01 Sassanid Command except for the foot figure on the stand to the left.  He is another from Xyston ANC20056 that I added a standard to.  I painted all of these.

These three pictures are of the Sassanid Armoured Horse Archers that dominate the Sassanid list in the latter part of the era.  I painted all of these and they are all OG15s.  Originally, I bought a boxed FOG Sassanid Army from OG and that is how I acquired most of these.  The four BGs with full horse armour came in that box.  The one above with the colored dots on the half horse armour I could only get by ordering LTBG75from the Field of Glory Battlegroups section as they are not in the normal Sassanid range.  You can have three of these in the Early Sassanid list.   

Here we have 10 stands of Levy Spearmen (Horde).  I picked up a painted Sassanid army from Hinds Limited when I was first getting into FOG and most of these came from that army.  I have since sold almost all of it.  There are a few I painted later as I was fleshing these out and they are from 50Paces (I think) and a few OG15s.  In V1 and V2, they could be Poor PROTECTED Mob or Poor Defensive Spear. In V3, you can still get the Mob and Poor Spear but you have the option of getting some real Persian Infantry.  I have the lead from FIB but have yet to get around to them.  In ADLG, the Sassanid list is broken as you have a mandatory two stands of these you have to bring which makes it impossible to run historical lists from the later period.

The Daylami Guard:  In the later years, you are allowed six stands of these.  You could also use them in the Later Pre-Islamic Arabian list from Lost Scrolls.  These are all painted by me and are OG15s from pack AC11.  In V3, you can have 8 stands of these so I need to get around to painting up two more bases.

The Elephant Core:  The two BGs on the left are OG15s and the one on the right is Essex.    The Essex elephants are from pack SAE9A and are remnants of the Sassanid Army from Hinds Limited.  The other two, I painted and are from ES09 Elephants and crew. 

The full sized Sassanid Camp:  a Fire temple of sorts with the eternal fire in the center.  This is scratch built by your truly.  The columns I picked up on E-Bay.  The fire are some beads I picked up at Hobby Lobby and put together and then added the red stone on top.  The three priests are some more of the left over Xyston ANC20056 Persians.

I have an ally of Dilimites (using FIB WE-PS09 Daylami Hillmen) that are on the prep table that I plan to also use as Mountain Indian spearmen, another BG of OG Saka Horse Archers and a boat load of FIB WE-PS08 Levy Spear that I want to add at some part to give the Sassanids some real foot but when that will happen is a real question.  I can have 4 more bases of cataphracts but drilling out those hands are holding me back.  Until next time, enjoy.

Sometimes you just look for things to do rather than paint - Arab Photo Gallery

 Just not feeling it today for painting so decided to pull out my Arabs to take a few pictures and make stir the juices.

These are a mixture of Old Glory 15s, Khurasan and Essex with one or two random others I found in the lead pile when putting them together.  The army itself started as a boxed Arab Conquest Army for Old Glory 15s.  Paint jobs are also a mixture my own and several other painters.  I will try list all of that in the captions of each picture as we go through these.

This is the overview of the entire force.  Originally this was built as an Arab Conquest list for the last US FOG Team Tournament in 2015.  Since then I have replaced most of the cavalry but more on that later.

Arab Generals 1

Arab Generals 2 - The three horse mounted command stands are from the Early Medieval Arab range from Khurasan.  The banner holders are one of the unarmored lancers from the same range.  The camel command stand is from Essex.  I use this army as a Pre-Islamic Arabian, Pre-Islamic Bedouin, Dynastic Bedouin and other Arab based Dark Age lists.  I painted all of the command stands.  The flags are some I found online and resized for 15mm.

Arab Archers - These are a mix of OG15s and Khurasan Early Medieval Arabs.  The OG figures were painted by Larry Reeves and I painted the Khurasan. 

These are Bedouin Cavalry OG15s from the Crusades Range.  Originally all of the cavalry in this army were from OG but I found the poses and sculpturing sort of bland.  This is the last BG from the original build.  I painted these.

Arab skirmishing archers.  Old Glory 15s painted by Larry Reeves.

Arab slingers from Khurasan.  I painted these and think they turned out well.  OG15s does not have an Arab slinger casting.

Bedouin Light Horse - These are Khurasan unarmored lancers mostly painted by Thomas Demers of Mad Monkey Painters.  I added a few figures as I needed more to flesh them out to three BGs.  The next BG follows in the next picture.

Bedouin Light Horse and Arab Camelry with Bow - The Bedouins are again from Khurasan and mainly painted by Thomas Demers.  The camelry are from Forged in Battle painted by me.  Love the way these turned out by I learned I hate painting camels and these casting in particular.  The figures are split waist with two different torsos and two different camels.  

There are 5 BGs of Jund Cavalry or Bedouin Cavalry all from Khurasan.  Thomas Demers painted most of these and I added one or two to fill out the ranks.  

City Cavalry Lancers - These are Khurasan Armoured Lancers from his Arab range.  I painted these myself and the flag is something I created.  You are only allowed 6 total of these and I may add two more stands later.

5 BGs of Arab Heavy Foot - all Old Glory painted by Larry Reeves with the exception of 1 command stand that I added later.  Eventually, I may replace these with the new Forged in Battle castings.

In V1 & V2 of FOG, the Average Jund Cavalry could dismount as Superior Offensive Spear so I built this army with this in mind.  In V3,  they dismount as how you buy them so not such a get over anymore.  I may add another command stand and a stand of spearmen to flesh these out to a 6th BG of Arab foot.  Larry Reeves painted these.

A battle group of Arab Javelinmen - all OG15s painted by one of the Chinese painting companies that I picked up off Ebay.  I picked these up several years ago before the Chinese decided their paint jobs were as good as gold and liked the paint job so much I rebased them and kept them.  In later armies, I use these as Ghazi volunteer foot. 

Dailami foot - These are all OG15s that I painted for my Sassanid and Pre-Islamic Arabian armies.  These were a labor of love and took quite awhile to finish.  I may add two more bases some day as they can by 8 stands in some of the later Arab lists.

Ambush markers for FOG - sometimes I use just two of these together to form a camp for FOG 300 or ADLG.  I painted the figures on these and found them in the figure bin.  The one in the center is an Essex javelin man.  I think the other two are Museum.

Full size FOG camp that I painted and created.  The foot figures are all Essex.  The tent is from Baeuda.  The well is one of the OG15s camp sets.  The camel is Museum (I think) that I found in the figure bin and the palm tree is one I picked up in Hobby Lobby.

FOG 300 camp (or if I have to ADLG camp).  The figures are all Essex.  Originally, I had 6 bases of these that I picked up off Ebay from one of the Chinese painting companies.

While these started life as an Arab Conquest army, I use it now as Pre-Islamic Arabian, Pre-Islamic Bedouin, Muslim North African and Sicily plus a few others.  

The 1st Crusaders or Some of them, anyway.

 Coming off the Chilled Iron FOG Tournament recently where my Crusaders made another foray onto the table, I decided to start work on my Post-1st Crusade campaign again and ended up taking pictures of my current collection.  I love the Norman look of the first crusaders and have a load of them still unpainted.  Most of the figures are Old Glory 15s but there are some odds and ends mixed in.  I will add comments in the captions where there are different figures.

Here is the whole host with two camps in the background.

These are my generic leaders.  All of the command figures are from the OG15 pack NO01 Command with an extra milite from either OG15 pack NO02 or NO06.

These are my more specific leaders.  The left one is supposed to be Raymond of Toulouse and these are from the Essex Norman command pack.  The middle is Adhemar Le Puy and these are various figures I found in the spares box.  The far right is Beranger of Narbonne.  The colors are speculative but they look nice.  The figures on that stand are all OG15s from the command and cavalry packs.

These two stands I painted and they are a mix of OG15s NO02 and NO06.

Thomas Demers of Mad Monkey Painting painted these two stands and they too are a mix of NO02 and NO06.

These serve as my Turcopoles/Byzantine Cavalry.  They also do double duty in my Seljuk Turk army and Komnenan Byzantine army.  They are a mix of figures from OG15 packs ST03, ST08 and ST09.

The infantry in the front are OG15s with a mix of NO05A and NO07.  Thomas Demers painted most of these figures with a few that I did.  The horde in the back are a mix of manufacturers from all over.  Some I picked up years ago from Hinds Painting and a few I painted.  The archers on the left are a mix of OG15 NO04D and some random Baueda Norman archers I had.  There may also be a random Essex figure in there.

The spearmen in the front are a big time mix of Khurasan Norman and Southern Lombard Milites, Essex and OG15s.  The OG15s are from NO05B.  The archers behind are the Syrian Christian Archers from OG15 pack OR08.  I painted both of these groups.  The Horde in the top left are mentioned earlier.

Here we have another group of spear that I painted.  They too are a mixture of OG15s, Khurasan and Essex miniatures.  The Crossbow behind are OG15s mainly from the FC04B pack.

This is my Crusader fortified camp.  I picked it up off Ebay, rebased it, redid the gate and added the cobblestones.  Wish it was middle eastern in color but it works.

These three bases together work for a full sized unfortified camp for FOG and split apart work for three FOG 300 camps.  The two ships I picked up years ago in a HYW English army I purchased from Hinds Painting.  The other base has a wizard from Battle Valor's Fantasy line and three mules I picked up in a mixed bag from Hinds painting.